Temperatures beyond the community optimum promote the dominance of heat-adapted, fast growing and stress resistant bacteria in alpine soils

Abstract

Alpine soils are warming strongly, leading to profound alterations in carbon cycling and greenhouse gas budgets, mediated via the soil microbiome. To explore microbial responses to global warming, we incubated eight alpine soils between 4 and 35 °C and linked the temperature dependency of bacterial growth with alterations in community structures and the identification of temperature sensitive taxa. The temperature optimum for bacterial growth was between 27 and 30 °C and was higher in soils from warmer environments. This temperature f Show more